He came to Smackdown with a few friends and is now your #1 Contender to the World Title, and you’re furious.
It’s kind of crazy to think that Jinder Mahal, a man that was losing night after night on RAW, is now the number 1 contender to Randy Orton‘s WWE World Championship. When Jinder arrived back on WWE Programming a few months ago as a RAW Brand superstar, we were all just sitting there and scratching our heads. They did so little with Jinder throughout his WWE career already, that it seemed impossible that they would have use for him today. His feud and story with The Great Khali was D.O.A. and 3 Man Band just couldn’t break the glass ceiling that the three men needed to break.
So why now? Why fill the roster spot with Jinder when you have a vast roster already, including a handful of NXT guys that could have come up?
Whatever the reason at the time, it was obvious that Jinder had been away from the WWE and working his ass off. His physique could only be rivaled by Lex Luger in the 90’s and the rumors started. The word “Steroids” probably took a huge spike on Twitter the next few weeks as no one really wanted to accept that he worked his ass off.
Look, I’m not fitness expert, but when you work as hard as he is on a physique and you drop that body fat % down into the low single digits, there’s nothing for your skin to wrap around other than muscles and veins. That’s just common sense.
Jinder is no Brock Lesnar, that’s for sure.
It’s insane to think that the WWE didn’t test Jinder Mahal and make him go through physical tests. If his body was laced with steroids, they never would have signed him. The only guy that’s gotten away with using “enhancers” is Brock Lesnar, but we truly don’t know what WWE actually does ban, especially compared to the UFC. Point being, Jinder is no Brock Lesnar.
He’s not the guy that’s going to get to walk in whatever day he wants and make money. He’s not going to get the leniency for a “random” wellness test to mysteriously skip him for a 9th consecutive time, like I’m sure it does for Randy. So hey, let’s get off the steroid talk. Let’s stop using at a crutch to Hinder Jinder just because you don’t like him.
It’s probably good that you don’t like him though, he’s a fucking heel.
It’s 2017 and we’re in with the new. Well, we’re also in with the old and that gets to some of us. Since the brand split, we’ve seen some new faces like AJ Styles and Finn Balor really emerge, but we’ve also seen the main titles of each show around the waists of John Cena, Goldberg, Randy Orton and Lesnar.
So let’s get back in with the new! Enter Jinder Mahal. It makes you wonder what Jinder did to get this push. Well, if you didn’t see the Andre ‘The Giant’ Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania, then you’ll never know why Vince McMahon “owed him one.” Even though, Jinder has showed he’s a guy that can really elevate a face to the level needed. With Orton ending his feud with Wyatt at Payback, he needs a solid, heat filled, hated villain to go after to be the face he’s supposed to be. Jinder is just that, especially with the addition of the Bollywood Boys.
GENIUS!
The Bollywood Boys have been a forgotten team in the WWE. I think I’ve seen them 3, MAYBE 4 times since the Cruiserweight Classic. Each time I did see them, I cringed. So why not take two other random guys from India and give Jinder some solid lackeys. Hey, it worked for Seth Rollins when he had J&J Security. Why praise that and piss all over this? Is it because you don’t like the Bollywood Boys? Well, I don’t either, but it’s something fresh.
It’s something new. It’s something more than Dolph Ziggler, Styles, Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt. It will NEVER hurt for the WWE to make a main event contender. Even if they don’t use him as such, the ability to use him will always help keep things feeling new. Just take a look at Styles, Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Couple them with Orton, Jinder, Ziggler and sprinkle in a potential Luke Harper and Shinsuke Nakamura, well God damn!
Now THAT is a show full of fresh, interesting and ENTERTAINING stories/feuds for years to come.
The problem with the PG era wasn’t the rating. The problem was creative. From the attitude era up into 2009-2011, things changed. They were so heavy on Cena, Orton and Batista that everyone else took a backseat. Even guys with great feuds, they got watered down. Now here we are, 2017 and we have talent that could rival said attitude era, and we’re going to sit around and complain that they are trying to make another great heel to add to the list.
At first I laughed, then I was a bit annoyed by the decision. Then I grew to appreciate the swerve and to enjoy what short lived program we may be seeing. Yes, I fully believe this will be a once off. Orton has been lost in the feud with Wyatt, so why use a talent like AJ or Zayn to bring Orton back into Smackdown Live? Orton needs to be the face for a while longer, not get booed because we love Styles much more.
So while you sit there, angry about this, I’ll be sitting back and waiting to see what happens next. This could be horrible, but I think it’ll end up being entertaining. Besides, we still get Styles vs Owens and Shinsuke vs Ziggler, you marks.
You can follow Bill Shannon on Twitter @RealCrazyBill.
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